Netflix called out by minister to offer same UK content Europe-wide

If you've travelled abroad and watched Netflix from your account you may have noticed different content available to you. UK business secretary Vince Cable wants this changed and has urged Netflix to offer the same content Europe-wide for UK travellers.

At the moment Netflix has different content rights in different regions meaning you may be able to watch a show in the UK that you can't in France, say. So if you're going on holiday halfway through Sons of Anarchy and with plans to finish it while relaxing abroad you may be left out of luck.

Users have been able to get around this problem by using proxies and VPNs to trick the Netflix servers into thinking they are elsewhere. UK residents may do this to access the wider movie selection on US Netflix, for example.

Vince Cable has called out for a "single online market" for Europe. This would mean travelling around the continent resulted in the same media result on Netflix, regardless of location. This would mean UK residents are able to watch their UK shows wherever they go. Local content, though, would not become available.

While this is a nice idea the logistics of making it happen are mind-boggling. Cable didn't go into details on how this could be implemented. We don't expect this to be at the top of the Netflix priority list anytime soon.